Final International Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Final International Terrorism - Essay Example For example, the US war in Iraq has different social and political reasons than the recent Hamas action against Israel. Yet, at the root of both actions is the fight for land or resources that each feels they are entitled to. The US is fighting for the right to the oil, and Hamas is fighting to regain control of what they perceive as their homeland. Issues of ethnicity, religion, and ideology influence young disciples to commit violent acts, and they all contribute to the perpetuation of the violence, but it is not what brings them to the battle. Radical Islamic groups use religion merely to attract recruits (Rowley and Schneider, 2004, p.560). The US would be less concerned about a democratic or capitalistic Iraq, if the region did not have oil. Hamas would be less concerned about the religious practices of the Jews, if they did not threaten their ability to have a place to call home, and vice-versa. While religious, philosophical, and ideological platitudes are used by leaders to justify violence, the reason for war is the simply the pragmatism regarding the ownership of territory, land, and resources. The Council on Foreign Relations defines Hamas as an organization whose primary purpose is to provide social services for the Palestinian people (Hamas, 2009). The group was formed to do charitable work in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and did not become politically oriented until the Six Day War in 1967, when it began to coordinate political activities with the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza (Hamas, 2009). Since its first acts of violence in 1993, it has been perceived as a dangerous terrorist group, while obtaining political legitimacy through their recent election as a ruling party. Hezbellah and Hamas have similar social roots, and share the goal of "promising the elimination of Israel from the map of the Middle East" (Rowley and Schneider, 2004, p.559). However, Hamas is an umbrella group for radical Sunni groups and Hezbollah is an organization comprised of Shiite groups. Many shadowy organizations claim the name of Islamic Jihad, and it has become synonymous with a movement, rather than an organization. However, it is an organization that was formed in the Gaza strip in 1981 that professes violence, the destruction of Israel, and the establishment of an Islamic state in Palestine (White, 2009, p.226). None of these terrorist organizations present a direct threat to the United States. However, they seek recriminations against the US due to its economic and military support for Israel, which they view as a terrorist nation, as well as protecting Israel from UN sanctions. While negotiations imply an in-depth agreement that may be pre-mature at this point, it would be helpful to open a dialog with organizations such as Hamas and Hezbellah. It could put us on a road to future agreements with minimal risk. 3.) The Kurdish Conflict and the PKK: The Kurds are an ethnically homogeneous group that has a common language and occupy a contiguous geographical area that includes parts of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. The PKK is the Kurdistan Workers Party, which was formed in 1978 as a Marxist-Leninist organization (White, 2009, p.334). It has a terrorist arm that has the goal of creating

Effects of Stress on the Immune System Research Paper

Effects of Stress on the Immune System - Research Paper Example Stress does have a profound effect on the immune system. Though stress was initially considered to exert a physiological effect in the human body, later studies have revealed that it also affects the immune system by changing the immune response to infectious agents and environmental pollutants. Further studies have shown that depending on the nature and duration of the stressful event the immune system can either be enhanced or depressed. These immune changes however, have minimal clinical consequences in healthy individuals, but the weakening of the immune system in response to aging and disease results in prominent changes in the immunity of the individual to stress. Stress has also been linked to the progression of various diseases such as tumors and autoimmune diseases. The changes in immune response are mediated by signals from the endocrine and nervous system which are the initially responders to the environmental stresses. Various stress hormones released in response to stres s play a role in the activation or suppression of the immune cells. While in majority of the cases stress has a detrimental effect on the functioning of the immune system, in some cases acute limited stress have been shown to up regulate natural immunity parameters that are useful in protection against a possible injury or infection. Stress has for long been linked to changes in the physiology of humans such an increased delivery of oxygen and glucose to the heart muscles. However, researchers have shown that apart from these physiological changes stress also affects the immune response of an individual.... The hypothalamus controls the secretion of hormones from the pituitary, adrenal cortex and medulla. When this hypothalamus- pituitary- adrenal cortex axes is subjected to chronic activation it can have a pronounced effect on the health through continued secretion of hormones. When the receptors for glucocorticoid (GC) hormones present on the immune cells are bound by GC hormones they interfere with the activity of NF-kB which in turn suppresses the secretion of cytokines by these cells. The activation of the HPA axis also causes the secretion of catecholamine’s from the adrenal medulla which also binds to adrenergic receptors on the immune cells and increases the production of cytokines and antibody which is the body’s immediate response to stress. However, when subject to chronic activation these hormones can have a similar effect like the GC on the immune cells (Padgett & Glaser, 2003). While these stress hormones make us resistant to the effects of stressors by incre asing heart rate, blood pressure and sugar levels to combat the perceived threat, they however have a deleterious effect on the immune system when produced chronically (Psychological Stress and Cancer, 2012). For example, the release of cortisol under conditions of stress has been found to have an inhibitory effect on the synthesis and activity of white blood cells. In addition it has also been found to interfere with communication of immune cells thus preventing them from providing the necessary protection to the body (Hussain, 2010). The effect of stress hormones on the immune system has been studied in great detail during the past decade. Hormones released by various glands in response to stress